A Milford Chinese restaurant was closed Tuesday by the health department after an inspector saw roaches in the kitchen as well as shrimp thawing in a bucket under a sink.

China Taste at 28263 Lexus Drive was ordered closed by the Division of Public Health due to "imminent health hazards" seen during a routine inspection.

A state official saw live roaches in the kitchen as well as in the register area and in both bathrooms, the report said. Flypaper also was seen over a sink.

A message left at the restaurant Wednesday morning was not immediately returned. A phone voice recording and China Taste's Facebook page said the restaurant is closed "for internal repairs." The messages say it will reopen when the repairs are completed.

Household pesticide was being used in the restaurant and a white powder was under tables and against "wall junctures," the inspector wrote. The official did not specify what kind of powder was used.

Food contact surfaces were not clean and the restaurant was not properly thawing food items, the report said. The inspector cited the shrimp in the bucket.

The inspector wrote that the restaurant must "remove all food that is out on shelves" and is not allowed to reorder food until the health department allows China Taste to reopen.

All equipment must be cleaned and sanitized and a professional pest management company must spray the restaurant, the report said. The white powder and the roaches, both dead and alive, must be removed.

"No roaches will be present at next inspection," the official wrote in the report.

China Taste was fined $50 for a reinspection fee over a violation that occurred at the last routine inspection in February 2018.

Every week since August, The News Journal has been requesting information from the state and has learned at least 48 businesses were forced to close temporarily in 2018 over various health code violations. Some establishments were forced to shut down immediately due to imminent health hazards and gross, unsanitary conditions.

China Taste is the third known business to be ordered closed so far in 2019.

Semo's, a downtown Wilmington restaurant that serves lamb gyros, was temporarily closed on Jan. 2. and reopened the next day.

The bar of Bowlero, a bowling alley near Prices Corner, was closed on Jan. 4 and reopened on Jan. 7, just days before its grand opening.

Customers who want to anonymously report unsanitary conditions at Delaware food establishments and restaurants can call a consumer complaint hotline at 302-744-4736. Inspectors follow up on complaints.

Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 324-2386 or mnewman@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @MereNewman. Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico.